Thrummed mittens

It hasn't been my habit to showcase my knitting here, since I meant to focus on the farm. But I promised, and since I'm using fleece from Victoria, our first born-on-the-farm ewe, well....why not?

It was the first batch of fleece I've ever processed from our Shetlands (see November 27, 2006 posting). And dyeing wasn't as easy as I had hoped...

But the actual finished product is absolutely dreamy. So soft and warm. I've gotten plenty of requests, but Madison and Bill are next. Just have to process some more fleece. What I processed the first time barely covered both mittens.. (Madison says absolutely NO pink in hers...)

What's amazing is what is created inside the mitten with the thrum of fleece...see?

Vermin story

During my usual moring perusal of all web things sheepy and good, I came across a blog posting on barn mice, and it reminded me of my worst farm rodent story yet. (We have several, but this was the yuckiest in my mind...)

Just like good fairy tales all begin with, "Once Upon A Time...", all rodent stories start with, "I Saw Something Moving Out Of The Corner Of My Eye..." and this time it was WAY too big to be a field mouse. So I broke out the poison. You know, the brick type that you can tuck away in all the nooks and crannies, and went to work. I didn't have to wait long, the pieces were all gone within a day. Now the theory is that they eat the stuff, go away, and die. Apparently our rats missed the "go away" part.

I went into the barn a few nights later, and as I rounded the dark corner where the hay is piled, I saw something white on the floor. Not wispy white, like a lock of stray fleece, but big and dead white, like the belly of you-know-what. Looking away, I continued my chores, knowing that DH was coming home soon and would clean up. Now the arrangement we have on our farm, is that I handle all spiders (DH is a raving arachnophobe!) and he handles all rodents. Dead ones at least.

So I fed the chickens and got ready for the evening's 4-H meeting. The kids were coming over, and we ran a poultry group, so I was going into the coop to collect their chicks so they could check on their progress, take photos, etc. Our coop and barn are constructed in such a way that you wouldn't want to troop a half-dozen kids out there just to retrieve their chicks from the mini-pen I had constructed for them under the laying boxes, so I did the retrieving. I got down on my knees, opened the mini-pen door, and froze in horror. There, facing me, just inches from my nose, was a big rat with its head poking through the chicken wire staring silently at me. I freaked, screamed, and jumped back, heart pounding. After a few seconds, I gathered the courage to look back where I had been, and there was the rat, still there. Now, I am no expert in rodent behavior, but I didn't think freezing in place was any defensive behavior I had ever heard of, so I was cautiously curious. I stared for a few seconds; it didn't move. I leaned closer to look; it still didn't move. The thought ran through my mind that perhaps this was some sick, practical joke and perhaps this rat was fake. Well, when I leaned even closer, I saw the individual hairs and whiskers, and thought, "Nobody invests THAT much time and money in a fake rat!" So I kicked some wood shavings at it to get it to move, and nothing. The shavings just settled on the rat in a very still manner, and I was starting to to realize something...this sucker was dead. Or very, very sick. A few more kicks of shavings, and I was sure - it was dead. I braved up enough for a closer look, and I saw that somehow this stupid rat had managed to get it's head stuck as it was (apparently) going after the chicks, and there it died. I ran back in the house to get my daughter to photograph it, and to see what I had seen, just so I had a witness to my story in case the thing came to life and somehow wriggled free before DH came home...

So much for the "go away" and die part. I am convinced these two rats did everything possible with their last dying breaths to put themselves right where I would see them. Kind of a defiant, final, one-finger salute. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking with it.

Pygora goats

Often overlooked, barely understood (by ALL of us...) are the goats. So it's time to give them a little shout-out and a post of their own...

We've been marveling at their fleeces this winter. For those that don't know, Pygoras are an all-purpose goat (meat, milk, fleece) but the reason we keep them is for their fleece. Wonderful, lofty, silky fleece. Can you tell?

Cicero is the silver wether on the top, Clio is the white doe on the bottom of the photo. I estimate the fiber is 4+ inches long. To harvest it, we have to shear them with the clippers. We don't tip them like we do the sheep. Rather, they will "tolerate" me taking care of them still standing. So far, it's been a lot of me chasing them in a circle and shearing in spurts, as they get haltered to a single spot, and they need to be convinced to stand still. But this fall I built a stanchion (yet to be tried out) that should alleviate the movement. The theory goes, that as soon as they feel their hind legs just out there in thin air, they will stop moving. We'll see. A bit of grain is supposed to keep them busy as we lock their heads in with a pivoting bar so they can't pull back out. I usually start with a strip down their center back to remove the greatest amount of guard hair. Then I shear down each side. Unlike sheep fleece, it doesn't really stay together to any great degree, so we collect the shearings from the drop cloth when we are finished with the sides. I take all the "good" fleece (the stuff not matted or too dirty) and that has to be de-haired before it can be spun. Then I clean them up, smoothing out the lumpy spots, taking tangles, stuff underneath and around the face. Clio has wattles (goatie jewelry) which always take an extra degree of care.




She refused to pose to show you her face, but here you can see how lucious the fleece is...IF we get it off in time. See, every year since we've had her, there's been some reason or another, and we've lost her fleece to matting and felting. It's been one of the most frustrating aspects of raising them...fleece to die for, almost overnight destruction if it begins to matt. Really. One day it's gorgeous, the next it's one large, un-usable carpet.

So the wait is on...can we make it to warmer weather, when it is realistic to shear, without the fleece going to hell? We'll see....and keep our fingers crossed.

Snow!

I've heard from many folks who are by now tired of the snow. But for us, it's the first real snow of the season! Really, less than 30 days from March, and we finally get snow that covers the grass.
As you can see, some of us are very good at making use of it...

Going down the front hill from the porch.

And then, some are not so easily amused. They seem to say, "What is this stuff you want us to WALK in?"

The sheep are just outside the barn door. They've been staying indoors in this very cold weather, partly because of space and pasture constrictions, and partly because they were sheared in October, and have short coats. Victoria is the ewe showing us her butt, and next to her is her brother, Blackjack, a nice moorit wether. Behind them is Secret, Victoria's lamb, and looking longingly back at the barn is Hattie's little muskit twin, Alexander.

Here's another shot, and this was after a lot of coaxing; they're just not interested in coming out in the snow!

(I can't say that I blame them...I'm curling up with seed catalogs and garden plans myself...and of course, knitting...)

The Big Apple!

Anyone wondering where we've been the past few days needs to just look below...

Madison took this photo from the observation deck of the Empire State building. Our family took a little "working vacation" from the farm. (I was working, Madison was vacationing, and Bill, well he was working on overcoming his fear and trepidation with the city...) New York is a lot of fun, but nothing beats the tranquility of life in the country.

Organic Rocks!

We're an organic farm - the veggies, chickens, sheep, goats - the whole lot. When we're asked "Why?", I can sometimes come up with a coherent and (somewhat) concise answer, but I have to share a bit from an article I read which does such a nice job of capturing the essence of the need to go organic...

In the Fall 2006 issue of Spin-off magazine, Judith MacKenzie McCuin wrote an article about the "why" of organics. She writes, "every single acre that we can free from unnecessary chemical use, whether it is from fertilizers, pesticides, or herbicides, is one more small victory." Sure, the USDA and mega-industrial agriculture are making it harder and harder for individual farmers to get the official "organic" label, but we remain true to the ideals, even without the official stamp. Our customers know us and know our ethics.

The value, she writes, has to do more with good to the greater whole, than good to specific individuals. But each of our small, organic farms represent ever-widening circles that spread like ripples on a pond, hopefully connecting to other "ripples".

"Not every choice can be organic and not every organic choice can address all the issues that come up in discussions about textiles and the environment. But as consumers and producers we have the ability to make a choice about how we want the world to change."

She reaches out specifically in her article to fiber artists: spinners, knitters, weavers. Here on our farm, we are extending that partnership to our CSA customers (some of whom are fiber friends as well!) Remember...when we purchase, we are making informed choices, and in a small way are making the world move in a direction we want...

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Lessons from 2006

Well, like the blog title says...It's harder than it looks. Farming, that is. I realize the importance of not downplaying or discounting the important, vital, and sometimes challenging (albeit satisfying) work. But I'd like to share with everyone the lessons I learned this year.

1) Never farm with your mouth open. Flies fly right in - they may be protein, but they don't taste nice. Sheep sneeze - you're going for the cuddle, they're suddenly allergic to attention. Chickens housed up high to protect them from predators wait until you have your mouth open to scratch their cage floor and droppings. You get the idea...

2) Don't put eggs in your pocket. No matter how gentle you swear to be, or how padded you think your pocket is, there's always the goat that jumps up, or something on the ground that needs you to bend over to attend to, or the child that wants a hug. End result = pocket omelets.

3) Fencing is a competitive sport. (see May 2006 post) It doesn't matter whether you look at them to keep something in, or keep something out - the bottom line is "are you successful?". I would say for 2006, it was a draw.

Tis the Season...

Well, it's inevitable when you have a cute little wether that looks like Rudolph. Alexander is just a "natural" for the part.

It was really pretty warm today, and after going for a load of hay for winter feeding this morning, we were all outside playing.

Here, Alexander, oops I mean Rudolph is conferring with his mother about which of the others have been naughty or nice...

Finally...some fleece gets processed

It's about time the bags of wool sitting in the cellar get processed (after all, there's more in the barn!) And a project that sounds just right for me....thrummed mittens. After all, we love mittens, we only need small amounts of fleece, and we don't have to spin...(still learning that, we are)

This is Victoria's lamb fleece, looking a great deal lighter under the flash than it actually did in the bag. Very sheepy smelling. (not that I mind...)

She was sheared last March, mostly by hand shears, as I cut myself with the electric shears soon after starting. (OK, laugh and point - but those babies are sharp!)

Anyway, I picked out a bunch of nice, pretty clean stuff and soaked it in the sink with some Dawn in VERY hot water...

And after a little soaking, some HOT rinses....viola!

Wet it doesn't look like much...but I'd rather try this in small batches...If you want to see the dyeing, then pop over to the business blog.

Lower Lot Projects

Working again on the lower lot, we had a friend over and took down about 8 pretty dead red pines. The plan is to clear it out and plant blueberries there in the Spring. They ought to do very well with the acidic soil, and our older bushes are dropping off in production, so we're trying to insure our berries for the future...

Here's almost this same angle in the Spring...

(My brother-in-law, Carlos, took this shot)

And then there was the clearing and preparing for the hard-neck garlic (hence the poison ivy, see last post) on the hillside. We are trying to take advantage of the excellent drainage on the hill as well as trying to use all available land for cultivation...

And speaking of taking advantage...how about grazing the sheep on the front lawn?

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Poison Ivy-AGAIN

Okay, there has to be some sort of limit to this, I mean how many times a season does one have to get this stuff to win exemption?!!!? I'm dealing with my sixth outbreak (yeah, I said sixth) this season. Utter exasperation...

I'm on the road training (my "other" job to support my farm dream...) so I can't post photos from the farm, but I thought I'd keep everyone up to date...scratch, scratch, ooze, ooze.....

The (Crazy) Plan - part 1

If you've talked to me at all about the garden and organic vegetables and the like, then you've probably heard at least part of The Plan. It's more of an idea than a real plan, but it's beginnings are grounded in the state of our country these days - obese, unhealthy, and really out of touch with our food. I've read the articles and books, and thought lots about the problem and just spent a lot of time talking with folks and simply observing: how we shop, how we eat, how we live.

So few of us spend any time at all actually involved in the labor of producing food. Sure, I've had gardens for years, but it was always as a hobby, and more to produce supplementary food, rather than subsistence. This summer we produced organic produce for others, for profit, as well as feeding ourselves. It was not easy, it was labor-intensive. It really hammered home the effort involved in producing that flawless leaf of lettuce, that perfectly ripe tomato, that heavy kerneled ear of corn. Sure, chemicals could have made it all easier, but that's not an option any longer. (wait for The (Crazy) Plan - part 2...)

I know the better taste and health of organic farming, but I've been thinking about another aspect of it - how would the labor of producing food affect me? What would it take? What would I learn? Sure, I can cash my paycheck that I earn from sitting on my butt and writing, a pretty sedentary activity, and buy what I eat...but how much do I give up when I knowingly put myself one step further away from the source of my food? So what does real subsistence farming look like? Is it what we think of as sustainable? What does it take to sustain a person?

So, enough chit chat - here's The Plan: See what it would be like to be involved 100% (or damn close) to all the food I eat for 1 year. From July 1, 2007, I eat only what we grow, harvest, raise, barter, or obtain through exceptional means*. And I tell you about it here. Of course, those that only want the family and farm stuff can skip any green posts. That's fair, no?

*Exceptional means: Any meals offered as invitations from family or friends providing I contribute something home grown as a part of the bargain. I mean, that makes it almost like barter, and the whole idea was to explore healthy eating, not alienate myself from folks...

Then there's money I earn from selling what we've grown. I mean beyond the CSA (which is the farm business for the WHOLE family) and applies to only the really extra produce that we won't consume, and I have raised and harvested it specifically for sale. After all, the labor is mine, and that's the point, isn't it? That's the mad cash I'll have to use for stuff I haven't yet figured out how to make or do without. Like olive oil (an essential for cooking) and maybe chocolate (in case of emergency).

Speaking of money, there's the free money I find all over the place - the coins that hapless folks drop, leave, or disregard. If I invest the labor to retrieve it, it counts. Not the change that rattles around the house dryer, that would be taking from the family again. (Besides, it's too easy.) And not prizes or birthday money, that's too easy. That will have to go for some consumer good I can't do without.

OK, enough for the first part. This is a work in progress.

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Shear Delight?

Well, when you own sheep, you eventually have to get to this part... (unless of course, you eat them!)

Bill Ottoway and his family came out last Saturday and I got a 1:1 walk through on shearing, and actually got to take care of half of my little flock. Like the title says, "It's harder than it looks".

Of course it was compounded by my affection for the sheep, and my intense fear of cutting them (I was the only bleeder of the day - duct tape band-aid on the saluting finger). Madison documented the occasion, and my friend and business partner, Allison, casually looked on.

Bill's son, Thomas, made it look ridiculously easy, but that happens alot when you're 6...

I keep running over the steps and stages in my head, trying to drill it into memory for the Spring. I'm going to shear them again, even though the staple might not be long enough, it will put us back on the right shearing schedule, and it will give me another chance to polish up my skills...

I'm sure the sheep are thrilled...

Rude Interruption

Have you ever been having a conversation, when someone jumps in and rudely takes over, changing the conversation to themselves? Well, please excuse the commenter on our farm blog, who has decided it makes a nice place to advertise....someone at PaidSurveysOnline. It has forced me to change the settings to be able to Moderate Comments, when really I wanted anyone to be able to talk with us about what we're doing....but such is the world today. Folks can be so obsessed with themselves, self-promotion, consumer goods, and being pushy that they just can't stop themselves I guess...it makes me sick. And angry. I like the idea of searching for a company or service that I want, not being bombarded with junk mail, telemarketers, spam, and now this....Sorry, I'm ranting, huh? OK, back to the farm...

Morning Graze

I had the luxury of a few hours this morning, so I let everyone out for a morning graze on the lower lot. The sheep scurried for the lushest grass and fallen apples, and the goats stayed with me (on leashes - of course!) and happily muched scrub rose bushes and weeds...
















What a peaceful way to start my day...I wish every one could be like this. But it was also obvious how quickly winter is approaching, and even the sheep are eager to grab the last green bites to be had before a heavy frost.

Alexander busied himself around the pond, and almost got an unplanned bath in his haste to chomp the weeds...


It was Hattie who brought me out of my reverie...with a nose-butting right into the camera as if to say, "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?" (sigh)

Chicken Show, Show Chickens

Well, we've added two more to Madison's flock, but these two are "birds of a different feather" - they're show birds.

Stenson and Buff are Buff Brahma Bantams. These two are what is considered "show quality", and should give her plenty of show quality chicks for competition and sale. I know, I said no more bantams on the farm, since they aren't pulling their weight with eggs, but she's been wanting to get into competitive poultry, and they were beautiful and sooooo gentle...

We got them at the Eastern New York State Poulty show at the Cobleskill Fairgrounds today. What an interesting experience! It was our first "real" poultry show, and we went as spectators, not competitors (next year!) This was a very strange mix of chic and shabby. The sport definitely seems to be dominated by older men, but there's a little bit of everyone...and the ones in the beat up old Ford held together with baling twine spared nothing for their birds who were pristine and pampered, and the guy with the fancy cowboy hat and boots had ratty birds shoved into cages that hadn't been cleaned in weeks - so there was the whole spectrum.

Inside in the judging area, it was dominated (80%) by bantams. A disappointment for me, since I favor the standards, but interesting none the less. Not as wide a variety of breeds as I might have expected. If Blueberry is still around next Fall, he will definitely be an entry - there was only one other Splash Cochin, and he could have beaten him hands down. Now to see if we can find him a girlfriend....there's a tailgate sale next weekend....so we'll see!

Fair Frenzy

Schaghticoke Fair!

Well, you could never tell Madison had been waiting all summer for the Fair from this picture...but I think this was more of a reaction to Dad popping pictures - what a scowl!

Anyway, the 4-H theme was Colonial Times, so we dressed up...

There, that's much better! Here she is posing with her bantam cockerel she raised from an egg - Speedy. She got 6 blue ribbons in all for the chickens, and one red. The green ribbon is for Shooting Sports Laser Shoot (who knew she'd be a natural with the .22? Scary...)

She had lots of veggies in the projects display...and won lots of blue ribbons there, too! The best part was the feedback and tips from the Master Gardeners to help her plan for next year.

Her sunflower seed head was huge - biggest of those submitted!

Much of her produce was some of what she markets to Price Chopper. Our little entrepeneur has surpassed the $50 mark...

Connie, from our club, and Madison are here being judged on poultry showmanship. Madison is working with Speedy, and Connie is working with Summer. Both of them did very well.

Finally, after Set up Day, and almost a week straight of going to the Fair everyday for something or other, we come to the final evening...time to break everything down...

But it wouldn't be the Fair if we didn't come home with baby chicks...so here are this year's crop: two Easter Eggers, and a Rhode Island Red. That's (l to r) Zippee, Spring, and Design.

Lambs meet Rooster

Angel says, "What's this? Secret, you have something on your butt..."

"What?! Is it a spider? Eeek! Get it off!"

"No, it's not a spider...kind of tiny for a chicken, though..."

"Let me just look under here...I'm sure I can figure this thing out...Yep, it's a rooster..."

"DO YOU MIND??? Honestly...where were you raised? In a barn??!? (sheeesh)"

"What does a rooster have to do for a little green time?" Secret says, "Stay out of our pasture, that's what..."

Pheasants Goodbye...

Well, today was the day to say "goodbye" to the pheasants...we had raised them since chicks as part of a 4-H program. Funny, as ready as they seemed, when it came right down to it, Bill had to literally "shoo" them out of the enclosure.

They finally got the idea, and scattered to the surrounding field, taking off in flight in such a fashion that it seemed they were as amazed with their first attempt at flight, as we were watching them...

Not everyone got it figured out immediately, a few "hangers on" wandered about on goat barn and fence, even strolling across the yard, and hanging out amongst the blueberry bushes.